The view of a pond from the back yard of one Lander Avenue home is welcoming, but the problems that stem from it are anything but appetizing, say Graniteville residents.
(Staten Island Advance/Mark Stein)

For the last eight years, one resident, who chose to remain anonymous, has battled harsh summers and falls full of mosquitoes and other insects, as well as year-round problems with flooding and standing water.

"Nobody takes care of this property here. Nobody wants to claim this property here," said the woman, pointing at the cross street of Lander and Graham avenues.

"It's filthy. There are cars back there. I don't know what else is back there," explained one resident.

She said the city's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has come in the past to clean some of the street of mud left behind after flooding.

The back yards of Lander homeowners living near Kirshon Avenue face a pond about a third of the size of the body of water in Willowbrook Park.

"This is standing water," explained one homeowner. "There is so much debris back there, and it's infested with mosquitoes."

Turtles, ducks and geese frequent the area, though lately the ducks have disappeared, the homeowner said.

The pond is nearly impossible to approach. There are no trails and the pool is surrounded by thickets of brush, plants and trees.

The pond is not the DEP's responsibility, said agency spokeswoman Mercedes Padilla. It belongs to, and is managed by, a company "in this area" called Pondside LLC. Public records indicate that Farr Properties LLC owns the 284,000-square-foot property behind Lander Avenue.

The Advance was unable to reach either company.

"I'm very, very sorry I moved out here," said the homeowner. "I liked when I first came here. Something has to be done."